Andy Carroll: Is it worth it?

In last season's January transfers one specific transfer struck the fans. Liverpool paid 35 million pounds to Newcastle for the rights of the 19-year-old striker Andy Carro
l. Today Liverpool fans ask- was it worth it? Was the most expensive transfer in Liverpool history worth it?
Since his arrival Andy Carroll has scored a mere 4 goals. He has scored 4 goals for an entire year! Four goals for a striker for 35 million pounds is not enough.
Lets think about what could be reasons behind this very weak performance. Carroll is a typical English striker- strong, withe excellent headings, and supreme abilities to guard the ball- the pattern that most successful British strikers follow. This would seem to fit Liverpool perfectly- with Stuart Downing and Jose Enrique supplying very good crosses, Andy should not have difficulties to score much more often. However, one should think of a specificity of today's game.
In the last decade the game has progressed immensely. Especially in the Premiership, one can no longer make more than 3-4 steps dribbling without being pressured by at least one enemy player. Wing backs very often block crosses now, and this is the root of Carroll's issues- he is facing supreme defenders in the Premiership. Players like Assou-Ekoto, Ashley Cole, Patrice Evra and etc. do a very good job at blocking crosses. We can see this also in much larger pattern- such tipes of strikers are not very successful in today's football. Ibrahimovic is the only exception from this rule.
The truth is that this tipe of football is dying. Fewer and fewer teams today employ wings and crosses to tall strikers like Carroll heavily. The future of football is much more quicker, with much more movements and short passes. And players like Andy Carroll just dont fit in such a scheme